Years active: 1910-1967.
Known for: model, wife of Harry Kendall Thaw.
Net worth: $500,000.
Long before the years of Giselle Bündchen, Kate Moss, or even Twiggy, there was Evelyn Nesbit. She became the poster girl – quite literally – of the early twentieth century, and in her late teens was posing for artists such as James Carroll Beckwith.
She was a model, an actress, and a chorus girl, and all of it combined to make her a star, but a scandal wasn’t far behind. In 1906, her husband, Harry Kendall Thaw, killed socialite Stanford White in Madison Square Garden, which became the “Trial of the Century.” Thaw’s anger was due to White’s former romance with Nesbit…who had to testify at the trial.
Amanda Burden
Years active: 1964-present.
Known for: Director of NYC Department of Planning, daughter of Babe Paley.
Net worth: $200 million.
The It Girl is passed down from mother to daughter here, as Amanda Burden is the daughter of Babe Paley and Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. However, Burden has said that she and her mom had very little in the way of a relationship.
Amanda studied urban planning at Columbia, and while she rose to a prominent New York City council spot, she was also featured on plenty of best-dressed lists during her day, along with big names like Jackie Kennedy, proving to millions of young girls that success and beauty can go hand in hand.
Doris Duke
Years active: 1930-1993.
Known for: Tobacco heiress, charity worker.
Net worth: $1.2 billion.
As one of the richest women in the world, Doris Duke was well aware of how lucrative the tobacco industry was – she was the daughter of tobacco tycoon James Buchanan Duke. However, Doris used her high profile and wealth to help others. She even spent time working in an Egyptian canteen during World War II, which paid her one dollar a year.
She was a big adventurer, a horticulturist, a pianist, and an art collector. She was tireless in her campaign for various charity causes, and when she died in 1993 most of her immense fortune went to charity.
Eleanor Lambert
Years active: 1920-2003.
Known for: Fashion, publicist.
Net worth: $8 million.
The New York fashion industry seems almost set in stone, but it wasn't always so. Thanks to Eleanor Lambert, institutions such as the International Best Dressed List, and the City Fashion Critics' Award are still running. Without her, there wouldn't even be fashion week, which even the rooting plebeians of the world, who will go outside in an outfit of bright maroon long-sleeved t-shirts with charcoal cargo pants, ugh, recognize.
She became a worldwide tastemaker thanks to all her work in the fashion world. Lambert passed away in 2003 at the ripe old age of 100, only a few years after receiving a lifetime award for her contributions to the industry.
Dina Merrill
Years active: 1945-2009.
Known for: daughter of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Net worth: $5 billion.
Dina Merrill will likely turn out to be the richest It Girl on the list, thanks to a nearly unbelievable fortune that will pop your eyes right out of your head even in today's money. From her birth in 1924 to her death at the age of ninety-three, she never wanted for anything, being the only child of a rich heiress.
Her life of luxury led her to an acting career, where she would use her famous beauty and relentless charm to star opposite actresses like Elizabeth Taylor.